Tag: cognition

Ever developed one of those killer assignments that you know would be dynamite … and then you review the graduate student submissions and wonder – How could they have missed that!?!? Yep! It happened to me this week. It happened ironically during a synthesis assignment on attention, memory and thinking, and it pointed out to… Read more Lesson in Explicitness or Lack Thereof

It has been awhile since I blogged…but as I move into retirement from faculty development and spend more time teaching adjunct, my blog offers a place to reflect on my online teaching. I am currently teaching a graduate course for Northeastern University – Technology as a Medium for Learning (EDU6323). I was asked to completely… Read more First Week in EDU6323

Kristi Bronkey had a nice article in Faculty Focus yesterday entitled “Re-Thinking Direct Instruction in Online Learning.” She noted that while direct instruction had a bad reputation associated with passive learning, it did not have to reflect passivity. She suggested a model framed around the notions of “I Do, We Do, and You Do.” I… Read more Direct Instruction and Learning Science

Over the past two weeks, I have been reviewing Michelle Miller‘s new book Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology. This post looks at the last two chapters, on motivation and on putting it all together. Michelle noted that motivational challenges are one of the main differences between online and on campus teaching. “Motivation,” as Michelle… Read more Minds Online – A Wrap

I am continuing to explore Michelle Miller‘s new book Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology. This post looks at her examination of the third broad area of cognition – Thinking – as well as the effective use of multimedia in online courses. Michelle defined “thinking” as: “…using logic to reason based on the available information,… Read more Thinking Better (and Visually)

The last two posts have dealt with Michelle Miller’s new book Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology. This post continues with an examination of Chapter 5 on Memory. Michelle starts this chapter by noting that “…memory is central to the cognitive side of teaching and learning.” This brought to mind the review my colleagues and… Read more Applying Memory Research to Online Teaching

Last week, I began discussing Michelle Miller’s new book, Minds Online: Teaching Effectively With Technology. In my post, “Cognitively Optimized Online Course,” I reviewed the first three chapters on online learning, how it works, and the psychology of computing. In this post, I look at the fourth chapter, on attention. Sooo … has the cute… Read more Attention, Cognition, and Online Learning

Monday, I attended a regional conference hosted by the Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning on active learning. It was a good day of conversation with colleagues from some 35 institutions in the area. I met Jim Lang of Assumption College, and he pointed out that “active learning” is a potential active… Read more Cognitively Optimized Online Course

A couple of years ago, Laura McLay had a post in her blog entitled “On Vampires and Stochastic Processes.” Nice bit of reflection on the statistical possibilities of vampires. What surprised her was the number of hits her blog had afterwards. It seems a good provocative title can draw in numbers of readers. Soooo…be interesting… Read more Serial Killers

I just finished reading Dan Willingham’s (2009) book, Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom. It is an excellent book full of practical suggestions to improve teaching, both online and in the classroom. Dan Willingham is currently Professor of Psychology… Read more Why Don’t Students Like School?

I am Britt Watwood, an online teacher recently retired from Northeastern's Center For Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research. My passions are networked learning and using web technology for learning. I currently teach graduate courses at Northeastern University and Creighton University.
DISCLAIMER: I am a product of my personal learning network and my thoughts are impacted by the many people locally and virtually with whom I have contact. However, the views expressed here in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the institutions for whom I teach.

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